^ she didnt lose the kid - the kid left on his own will in the middle of the night, it was reported to authorities and I can’t imagine what good it would do to keep the french kid without any activity except to maybe inform her on the legal system here?
Have you spoken to or heard from her parents yet?
Can you imagine if your 16-year-old exchange student kid went missing from the home she had been placed in? Any of us would be on the next plane to the country and would be demanding a full investigation, starting with the home in which she had been placed. I wonder how it works with Chinese parents; will they be permitted into the country?
My cousin works for a foreign consulate here in the states. They get involved with missing person cases when people from that country go missing in the US. I wonder if that will be the case here.
Unfortunately, I would expect the adequacy of the supervision provided to be looked into. That’s not fun for anyone, even those who are totally blameless.
How is the French girl dealing with this? Being the cautious type, I’d probably want a new placement for my kid if the housemate from the program went missing (even voluntarily).
I’m sorry this happened. I hope the girl is located soon, and that a protracted investigation will not be involved.
You’re right. They didn’t lose the kid. The whole thing sounds very unfortunate. And the fact that the program could not be contacted in an emergency sounds terrible. That alone is worth checking into when considering anything like this.
And yes, if this were reversed, as nottelling suggests, I can imagine the panic and wondering what could have gone wrong, if dealing with an established program.
She left in the middle of the night and sent a text telling us not to contact. Nobody has reached the parents yet. Several people have tried.
I would think the Chinese Consulate in the US would be contacting the authorities in China to locate the parents, rather than lay people just trying to contact them.
What do some of you expect fauxmaven to do? Lock her in at night? And the French girl is supposed to be confined to barracks for the weekend because the other one took off? Everyone possible was notified. At that point, it seems to me that getting out of the house and entertaining the innocent French girl rather than sitting around brooding is perfectly reasonable.
Regarding the third floor balcony, fauxmaven recently moved to an apartment. Looking to see if she, doG forbid, fell/jumped off the balcony when she vanished in the middle of the night doesn’t seem at all odd to me.
There’s a good chance that the girl might not be 16 years old and might not be who she claimed she was. That might be why the parents can’t be reached.
That still brings it back to the specific program, vetting of students, doesn’t it?
Yes, it remains unclear who the real victim is here. Did the agency foist a poorly-vetted con artist on fauxmaven? Did the girl perpetrate some kind of fraud on the agency? Is the girl a naif who was groomed by a trafficker over the internet? It doesn’t seem as if she had time to meet anyone after her arrival.
In hindsight, her questions–how can I get a phone, when can we go to NYC–seem pretty suspicious. It sounds as if she arrived with the intention of doing this ASAP.
Hate say this, but I’d do a thorough search of your home to be sure this young woman didn’t steal/take anything from your house. If she ran away and may have lied about other things, she may have stolen as well, to help defray expenses, etc.
I hope this all turns out well, but it sure sounds like much more drama than you or anyone bargained for!
Nothing was taken. She did not take any belongs with her. Makes me more worried what she will be doing. Only took her phone and wallet. Passport is gone for her as well. Thanks God I took a photo on her arrival I can show to police!
It may well be that the girl is being trafficked, but it also looks like whatever is happening started in China, perhaps with her parents’ knowledge and support. It seems likely – at least to me – that she had this set up long before she arrived.
Back in our au pair days, we had some great ones and a couple of epic fails. The worst was an Irish woman who told our kids (then 8 and 5) they would burn in hell for all eternity if they didn’t accept Christ as their savior. After we fired her – not for that, but for her constant drunkenness – it turned out she had lied about her age and any number of other things to get into the program. She did actually like our kids though – she told them about Christ because she didn’t want them to burn in hell. She thought it would be fine if we, the parents, burned in hell for all eternity on account of our stubborn Judaism.
is it possible that her parents might be part of this? Could they have arranged for her to get a “job” here…and used the exchange program as a means to get her here?
Otherwise, I can’t imagine how,they will feel when contacted.
I find cultural differences interesting. In Germany we drink most beverages at room temperature, in the US people like drinks ice cold and in China they enjoy hot water.
I don’t mean to cause undue concern, but if I were in this situation I would definitely be consulting with my own attorney out of an abundance of caution. There’s a missing child here; things could get ugly.
She texted, so she has a cell phone. She should be traceable.
If this is a reputable agency then her age and parents information should be legit. It would be hard for me to believe that faxmaven’s family would be involved with a non-reputable agency. The Chinese who could afford to send their kids on an international exchange program are generally very well off. Their kids do not need to come to this country illegally. Their kids also would not be interested in getting a job at age 16. Think of an young adult with BMW, large bank account, and only child entitlement.
My brother-in-law is the chair for an international exchange program in their hometown. My sister just hosted two young men from Iraq. She said the young men were very well mannered and their families were very well off.
Then these parents are going to be very upset. Very.
Yes, it’s good that you have a photo for the police, @fauxmaven, but shouldn’t the program have her photo, medical records, contact information, a copy of her passport, etc.? I presume the police will have access to these immediately.
I think @oldfort’s point about the parents being able to afford a program like this is a good one. There are field trips every day as well as language instruction, is that correct (according to an earlier post)? Typically these programs are not inexpensive.
The police think this was all planned ahead of time. We think her parents wanted her to work, but had no idea what she would be doing. Several people have called her parent’s home in China. There has been no answer. She said her parents needed her to work. I think the smugglers paid for her trip and helped with her application, as her application is well written.She knows almost no English.She is very pretty,young and slim. We told her we could help her buy a newer phone by Friday, and she said that was too late.
That is what is still confusing. Was this kid not vetted? The program doesn’t have tons of info on this kid and their family? I never had a kid do a foreign exchange, but does the family sending their kid into one of these programs have any info on the host family, info on clear background check,etc. before they send them off?
Just saw your latest post. If she is being trafficked, that is horrific.